


Cold

by NightCityFiction



Series: Cold (River Ward/V) [1]
Category: Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-13 09:36:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28776189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightCityFiction/pseuds/NightCityFiction
Summary: A fix about my V and River Ward. It takes place post star ending so SPOILERS will be ahead. This is my post-ending canon.River Ward is on the water tower sullen watching the last video message he received from V over sixth months ago. Several months later V returns to NC after undergoing life-saving surgery only to find River a cold shell of his former self. Will she ever break through to the River she once knew, or is he lost forever?
Relationships: Female V/River Ward, River Ward - Relationship, V/River Ward
Series: Cold (River Ward/V) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2109774
Comments: 3
Kudos: 34





	Cold

A lonely soul sits on the water tower. Beer bottles scatter across it as a video message starts to play, the speakers voice sounding hoarse.

“Hey River it’s V. I’m still in the Badlands with the family. How are your PI cases going? How’s Joss and the kids? Is Randy going to get out of the hospital soon? I...really don’t know why I called you. Um...but I just wanted to see how you were doing. I know we didn’t get to spend a lot of time together when I was in NC. I just wanted to say- oh wait I have to go. Call me on the holo when you get this! Take care of yourself and I-”

“V let’s get a move on!” Panam shouts.

“God just give me a minute. Ugh, family, am I right? Okay, hope to hear from you soon.”

River sighed and took a sip of his beer. Her eyes looked and cheeks looked sunken and there was a little bit of dried blood on her nose that she must’ve forgotten to wipe off before she called. She was probably already gone he thought, and the knife that was still in his heart sunk deeper awakening a new sharpness from the dull ache.

Some text appears in his vision and reads “This message was received 181 days ago. Would you like to delete it?”

\-----------

(Many months later)  
My had was running with so many thoughts. Maybe he met someone new. Maybe he died on the job but, Joss would have called me. I kept speeding up going well over 100. I don’t know why I was so worried. It’s not like it even mattered. So what if he found someone new. It’s been so long.

He visited the camp once and I looked like absolute death. I was actually, actively, dying. He was emotionless the whole time. He wouldn’t even look at me most of the time. I wouldn’t have either though if I were him. He left as quickly as he came. I stupidly left him a message one day when he wouldn’t pick up before I had my procedure to fix my malfunctioning body. Why was I even driving there?

I pulled up on my motorcycle to the all to familiar trailer. My hands shook as I knocked on the trailer door. It felt so strange to be back. It felt like home and a new place all at the same time. The door opened to reveal Joss’ tired face.

“V? What are you doing here? And so late? I thought you had died or something when I didn’t hear anything.” Joss said, shock waking her up fully.

“Oh shit sorry Joss I didn’t mean to wake you up.” I spoke, my voice cracking along with each word “Wait you mean River hasn’t said anything about me?”

“Not really no, he’s really gone inside himself. Just going to work and then spending hours up on the watertower. You look really well though. What happened to your jewelry? And oh my god your hair, it’s actually a natural color.”

“Yeah it really doesn’t grow out of my head blue. Strange right?” I laughed way too loud after I said that.

“Yeah, say why are you here anyway?”

“I’m here to see River actually. I’ll stop by the water tower. It’s good seeing you again. I’ll visit you and the kids sometime soon

I made my way slowly to the water tower. My mind flashed back to the time we went there the first time. How we kissed and had sex for the first time. I would and wouldn’t give everything to go back to that time. The climb up the ladder felt like it took an eternity but, eventually there he was. The light from the tower illuminated him in that same red tank top, his back still turned. Even though it was dark I could still make out the grooves of the muscles in his arm. I quietly grabbed a beer and sat down next to him. I glanced over at his face and his eyes were blue, indicating he was taking a call. He just made affirming noises and then told whoever he was talking to that he would get to it tomorrow, which was probably a reference to a case he was working on.

His organic eye turned back to brown and then he spoke “I didn’t think I would see you again.”

“Huh, funny you didn’t even look and yet you know it’s me” I joked, trying not to let my anxiousness get the best of me “Was that a job you were talking about?”

“Yeah.”

Then it was silence. The sound of the breeze only made it more awkward. 

“How’s that going, you know the whole PI thing.” I asked.

“Great” he said absolutely deadpan.

I took a long sip of my beer trying to loosen my nerves, though my hands still had slight tremors.

“Thought you were dying last time I saw you, what happened?”

“Well you know in those few months, I decided dying wasn’t punk rock anymore.” I took a long sip of my beer just waiting for the tingling in my hands to go away.

He didn’t look amused. His eyes were filled with disbelief and pain. They were still fixed on the city as if looking at me would ruin everything. That I would just fade away.

“There was a ripperdoc Panam knew. He tried something...wild in my neural port that I don't even remember. I’m bummed I don’t have a really cool scar to show off. Had to take all of my piercings out. Doc said they would have gotten in the way, created some kind of complication. The hair was an accident. Did you know that bleach and dye was hard to come by in the Badlands? Soon it grew out enough that I just chopped it off. I looked pretty wild there for a while. Now I’m just my normal brunette self.” I explained.

His gaze was now pointed down toward his bottle “Why did you even come here?”

“Honestly, I can’t even remember. I think I came here to see you mostly.”

“You think?

“I...I did come here to see you.”

“Hm”

He took a long sip of his beer and after rubbed the back of his neck. I realized he had bags under his eyes that weren’t nearly as intense before. Darkness crept into the space between us pushing us further away. I just wanted to fade away and started thinking that I should have let Johnny take my body when we were with Alt. I shouldn’t have done the procedure and just died. It was so hard to come back and now I realize it was the wrong decision. He was just a zombie now.

I just emptied the bottle I was drinking, pouring it onto the ground below. I set it down next to where I was sitting, and made my way to the ladder, climbing down it and out the gate, booking it to my bike. Joss was on the porch watching me as I went, knowing that I couldn’t be stopped.

As I got on and sped away I swore I saw him in my rear view mirror as I went. But maybe that’s just wishful thinking.


End file.
